Ship&#39;s light.



E. BENVENUTI.

SHIP'S LIGHT.

APPLICATION HLED JULY l1. |916.

1,220,936. Patented Mar. 27, 1191.7.

4 SHEETS-SHEETl l E. BENVENUTI.

SHIPS LIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I7. 191e.

Patented MM2?, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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SHIPS LIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. 1916.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

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E. BENVENUTI.

SHIPS LIGHT.

APPLICATION rxLD1uLY11.191s.

LQQU/Qw Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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ENRICO BENVENUTI, OE GENOA, ITALY.

SHIPS LIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

T0 all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that l, ENRICO BENVENUTI, a subject of the King of italy,residing at apodell Uflicio Tecnico della Navigazione ieneraleItaliania, Genoa, italy, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements Relating to Ships Lights, of which the following is aspecification.

rThis invention comprises improvements relating to ships lights such yasport openings and side lights and it also concerns overboard dischargeapertures for ships. The invention has for its object to provide inaddition to the usual lights or sashes, improved means for closing theportholes and other apertures and also to provide, in some cases, meanswhereby a number of such closing means may be controlled from a centralstation such as the ships bridge for example.

As is well-known, damage to the interior of the ship, discomfort to thepassengers and great danger to the vessel have sometimes resulted fromwater entering open portholes or uncovered side light openings, owing tothe fact that the ship has listed, or an abnormal wave or swell haswashed the side of the ship before it has been possible to close theportholes or side light openings by the ordinary windows or lights ittedthereon.

Now according to this invention portholes or other openings providedwith usual sashes or lights are provided in addition with shuttersadapted to slide in grooves or guides across the opening, and withmechanical means for moving the shutters, the arrangement being suchthat the shutters may be opened or closed no matter whether the sashesor lights are in the open or closed position. Although these shuttersmay not, in all cases, be seated or jointed so as to effect an entirelywater-tight closure, nevertheless the manner in which these shutters aremounted, enables them, when in the closed position. to prevent anyconsiderable or appreciable entry of water through the openings in theevent of the ordinary sashes or lights being open. All the shutters on avessel may be operated by mechanism under a central control, so that in'the event of mishap or danger threatening,

all the shutters may be instantly closed by exercising such centralcontrol. Whether the shutters are operated singly or collectively,electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic or other motive power devices may beemployed for moving the shutters to or from, or to and from, the closedposition. Such motive power devices or mechanisms are, of course,well-known for operating doors or covers sliding in guides for closingand opening a number ci bulkhead door openings, hatches, ports, valves,gates and other such devices on board ship. Sliding sashes fitted withmechanical operating gears are also well-known for side lights or forportholes or lights and it is common to use dead lights on the latter,such dead lights being usually hinged. Sliding dead lights have beenproposed which were capable of being moved, by sliding` in guides, tothe closed position when the sash or light was in the open position. Theshutters accordto this invention, are, however, combined with the sashesor lights and may be opened or closed whether such sashes or lights arein the opened or closed position. In order to give complete security theshutter system may be extended to include shutters for overboarddischarge apertures.

In some cases, the shutters may be arranged in groups, and the centralor other control may be exercised to bring about the closure of a groupof shutters, or of several groups, or oi, all the groups. It issometimes advantageous to provide a single motive power device andtransmission mechanism for operating all the shutters in one group. ln alarge ship, for example, one motive power device may be arranged. tooperate all those shutters on one side which appertain to openings lyingbetween one deck and the next above and between neighboring bulkheads. Aconvenient and simple operating motive power device and transmissionmechanism comprises a piston working in a cylinder and connected bymeans of rods or links, shafts and gears with racks on the shutters, theadmission of pressure fluid to all cylinders being advantageouslycontrolled at the central station.

When hydraulic or other power is employed for operating the bulkheaddoors of the ship, the same power may be utilized for operating theshutters. In order to prevent the shutter system from affecting thedooroperating system, automatic valves may be provided for isolating theshutter system from the door system when the former is not in use. Alsoautomatic or other valves may be provided for short-circuiting the ramcylinders, and also, if desired for cutting off the latter from thehydraulic system, in order to enable the shutter mechanism to be workedfreely by hand when it is desired to do this, as for example when thereis derangement of the motive power system.- Or mechanical disconnectingdevices may be employed for enabling the mechanism to be worked freelyby hand when desired, without hindrance by the motive power devices.

The operating means of each shutter may comprise a slip coupling,friction coupling, or other maximumy effort transmission device. Suchcoupling or device allows all shutters to close in spite of unequalmovement of one shutter as compared with that of another. It furtherallows all unobstructed shutters to close, even although one or moreshutters may be obstructed. Lastly, it enables the avoidance of injuryto any person who may, at the time of closing, have head or body in anopening or porthole.

'In order to enable this invention to be readily understood reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of examplesuitable arrangements according to these improvements, and in which 1-Figure l is an elevation of a porthole fitted with a shutter, -as seenfrom within the ship, part of the. casing being broken away to displaythe shutter which is in the lower o-r open position,

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line'II-II of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line III- III of Fig. l andshowing the hinged light or window, and its fastening means which areomitted from Figs. l and 2;

Fig. l is a transverse section on the line IV-IV ofFig. l;

Fig. 5 is a more or less diagrammatic elevation of a portion of a shipsside as seen from within and of the porthole shutters and theiroperating mechanism, an overboard discharge with a valve or shutter,operatively connected with the said mechanism,

vbeing also shown,

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a muchsmaller portion of the ship than is seenin Fig. 5 but drawn to a. much larger scale and showing the shuttermechanism in detail;

Fig. '7 is a side view of Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a plan of a detail of the hand gear seen on the top of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the connection of the sluicevalve of an overboard discharge with the shutter-operating mechanism.

Fig. l0 is a longitudinal section ofI a friction coupling arrangementfor the shutteroperating gear,

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional elevation; and

Fig. 12 is an end view of slip couplings seen in Fig. 6;

Referring to Figs. l to 4C of the accompanying drawings, a is theframing of the porthole or other opening which, in the cxample shown, isfitted with the usual bead or flange Z). The latter, as seen in Fig. 3,acts as a seating for the packing c, of the glazed window or light d,which may be hinged at e and fastened by a Convenient fastening f. Itwill be understood that any Vform of glazed light or sash may beemployed, the` invention being concerned with the shutter, now t'o bedescribed, and not with any particular form of side light. Between theseating and the outside of' the porthole, grooves or guides g areprovided for a sliding shutter h. which is advantageously made of metal.The grooves g are shown arranged vertically so that the shutter z. hasan up and down movement but such guides or grooves may equally wellcxtend horizontally or laterally. In either case the guides or grooves gmay extend into a casing y' which receives the shutter 7L when thelatter is not in use. The casing may, as illustrated, be formed orfitted as a downward extension of the frame a just within the skin ofthe ship, the grooves g being conveniently formed between two parts ofthc casing which are faced and held together by screws 7c, the upperpart of the casing forming, as it were, the rear part of the frame (I,on which the seating Z1 is formed. The grooves g or the slots formingthe openings thereof, are preferably as narrow as possible, so that evenwithout packing, a reasonably watertight closure is afforded when theshutter 72, is moved over the. port or side opening. In the case ofgrooves which are internally enlarged as seen clearly in Figs. 3 and 4,the side recesses thus provided are convenient receptacles for packingstrips g of material for rendering the closure watertight, orpractically so. The upper part t, Fig. 1, of the shutter 7L is ofsemicirculal.' shape, in the case of a porthole, so that it will seat-itself properly in the upper portion of the groove g which passesaround the upper portion of the porthole framing. The lower portion ofthe shutter 7L` may be of any suitable shape, so long as it will closethe aperture and is capable of being guided satisfactorily. A

The shutter h may be operated by a lever, as for example the lever Zindicated b v dotted lines in Fig. l mounted within the casing andcoupled to the shutter k by a` lld or discharge pipes a main collector wtted with a shutter,

pin and slot connection m, the lever Z being mounted upon an operatingspindle n extending out through the casing and provided with anoperating arm o, the bearing of the spindle n being, if desired,rendered watertight in any suitable manner.

Several portholes disposed in alinement may have their shutter-operatingarms pivotally connected to a common sliding rod which is in turnconnected by a bell-crank lever, or in other suitable manner, to ahydraulic cylinder the operation of which through the saidrod serves toopen and close the several porthole shutters in the group of portholeswhich are connected together as will be readily understood withoutillustration.

In order topperate the rows of portholes disposed one above the otherbetween respective decks, the hydraulic cylinder may be adapted tooperate a vertical rod passing down through the decks and coupled to therespective horizontal rods which operate the porthole shutters as abovementioned.

Instead of sliding rods and levers constituting the transmissionmechanism, other mechanisms may be employed, as for eX- ample toothedgear wheels and racks. Fig. shows diagrammatically a system of thegeneral character referred to in the preceding paragraph but adapted towork with toothed gears and racks. In this figure, p is the hydrauliccylinder and r is a vertical rod connected with the piston rod or ram,which rod r may be in sections connected together by pivotal joints ashereinafter described. 'lhe rod r imparts rotary motion in any suitablemanner to the superposed shafts s eachof which may serve for operating agroup or line of shutters. The shafts s may be universally coupled withthe mechanism seen in Figs. l to 4L and comprising spindles t carryinggear wheels u meshing' with racks-u on the shutters h. It will thereforebe readily understood that the piston in the cylinder p is capable ofopening or closing a large number of shutters at the same time. Thecylinder lo may also operate valves of overboard discharges. If desired,a number of, or all, discharges on one side may be drained down to onecommon overboard discharge. For example and as seen in Fig. 5, a numberof collectors w may be brought into sluice valve, or other overboarddischarge valve c, and this valve may have an operative connection, bymeans for example of a rack rod with the adjacent shaft s.

Figs. 6 to 9 illustrate the power and transmission mechanism in detail.The sections of the rod r are pivotally jointed together at r and alsoto the piston rod or ram of the cylinder 0, and where necessary guides oare provided for the rod to slide in. Be.

tween rod sections, connected, the said racks meshing with toothedwheels 1 on the shafts e. Guides 2 are provided for the racks to slidein and if desired keepers 3 are fitted to the racks .e for protectingthe latter and also for preventing the wheels 1 from riding out of mesh.Each shaft length s may be. driven through the medium of a slip couplingll, F ig. 6, so that if there should be any obstruction to the closingof the corresponding shutter, or if the latter should reach the closedposition in advance of other shutters, such other shutters willnevertheless be able to close, the coupling appertaining to theobstructed shutter slipping as will be readily understood. The slipcouplings also enable the avoidance of injury to persons who may havetheir heads, for example, in portholes at the instant of closing theshutters. Suitable slip couplings will be hereinafter described.

The cylinder p is connected by with a control valve arranged at venientstation, the valve being of any suitable kind for admitting pressurefiuid into either of the pipes while exhausting the other. Other pipes5a, 6L may lead from the cylinder p to a short circuiting valve 7 whichis placed at thehand-operating station. lf an electrical solenoid tookthe place of the cylinder p a simple switch for makpipes 5, 6, any con-'ing and breaking the circuit would take the place of the control valveand the'core and shutters /L might be returned by gravity or springs. Ora second solenoid, controlled by the switch might be employed for thereturn movement. If an electric motor were used in place of the cylinderp a motor control and reversing switch would take the place of thecontrol valve. Naturally ahand gear may be applied to each shutter sothat any shutter could be operated by hand, in spite of the power beingapplied, the slip couplings being then adjusted so as to enable this tobe done.

For the purpose of enablingthe rod r to be operated by hand gear fromthe deck above, the top section of the rod rmay be screw threaded at 8and work in a guide sleeve 9. A nut 10 formed as a bevel wheel isscrewed on to the rod and in the ordinary way is free to move up anddown with then rod r. A. driving bevel wheel 11 is mounted on a spindle12 turning in bearings on a bracket 13 and having a squared end 14 towhich a crank handle may be fitted. On the bracket 13 is pivoted ahorizontal arm 15 having a forked end 16 which embraces the screwthreaded end 8 of the rod r when the arm is turned to the operativeposition shown in 8 and indicated by chain lines in Fig. 7. When the rodr is to be operated by hand, the nut wheel 10 is screwed down until itmeshes with the driving Wheel ll racks z are pvotally,-

n iii and the arm 15 is then turned to the operative position in whichit lies above the nut wheel 10. Upon turning the'spindle 12 by a crankhandle the rod 7 will be raised or lowered and willl operate theshutters as -will be readily understood. In order that the motive powerdevice may offer no resistance to the hand operation the valve 7 isprovided for 'short-circuiting the two ends of the cylinder p. Or in thecase ot other motive power devices clutch means may be provided 'tordisconnecting them if necessary, when the hand gear is to be used.

Referring to Fig. 9 it will be seen that the rod a: may be connectedwith a rack a meshing with a toothed wheel 1a on an adjacent shaft s.When the valve fu is a sluice valve of the known type which is tightenedon to its seat by wedge devices during the concluding portion of theclosing operation, the gearing `for the valve is so adjusted or designedthat the valve closes slightly in advance of the shutters, in order thatthe final resistance to the eiiort exerted by the motive power devicemay be offered by the wedging of the sluice valve and not by theshutters reaching the limit of their closing movement; The rod m, Fig.9, is advantageously divided and fitted with a screw coupling ortightening nut for electing adjustments necessary for securing theproper relative timing of the valve fu. Y The Vcontrols valve connectedwith the pipes' 5, 6, may be a masterV control valve situated in theengine room and in its turn under control of a valve at the bridge ofthe ship.

Fig. 10 illustrates a slip coupling of the friction coneV variety, forcoupling the shaft s with the gear wheels u in the manner and forV thepurpose hereinbefore described. In this coupling an axially movable cone16a on the'shat s isfpressed by a spring 17 bearing against a iixedcollar 18 into engagement with a cone 19 formed on a hub portion ofthe'toothed wheel u.

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate a slip coupling of the kind marked 4 in Fig.6. These coulinOs are of the variet com arisin a nose or catch 20 on oneshaft portion, engaging a recess or notch 21 in a piston 22 pressedoutward by a spring 23 in a cylinder 24 on the other shaft portion. Whenthe resistance tothe turning of the driven v'shaft portion exceeds acertain maximum the nose 20 slips out of the notch 21 and turns idly fora revolution when it rengages in the notch and, if the resistance isstill too great slips again and so on, until the resistance is reduced.Y

If the shutters are operated by hydraulic means connected with ahydraulic bulkhead door-operating system, it may be advisable toprovideautomatic valves which will isolate theshutter system when not inuse andguides on said framingj a shutter prevent the door-operating system frombeing adversely aiiected by the shutter system.

Other power transmission systems or shutter-operating means, may besubstituted for those hereinbefore described without departing from thepresent invention.

I claim:

1. Means for closing side openings in ships, comprising in combination,movable sashes or lights adapted to be opened or closed by individualoperation, guides, shutters slidable therein capable ofbeing closed oversaid openings whether said sashes or lights are opened or closed, andoperative means connected with a plurality of said shutters.

2. Means for closing side openings in ships, comprising in combination,-a. framing, a glazed frame therein adapted to be opened or closed Jfromthe interior of the ship, guides on the outer side oi' said fram.- ing,a shutter slidable in said guides, mechanical means operative upon saidshutter, driving mechanism, and a coupling for connecting the mechanicalmeans with the driving mechanism.

3. Means for closing side openings in ships comprising in combination, aframing, a hinged sash, a seating for said sash on said framing, handoperated means i'or tightening said sash against said seating, slidablein said guides, mechanical means operative upon said shutter to slidethe same, and control means distant from said sash and operative tocontrol said mechanical means.

4. Means for closing port openings in ships comprising a framing, ahinged sash adapted to open inward, guides on the outer side of saidframing, a shutter slidable in said uides, and means adapted to operatesaid s utter.

5. Means for closing port openings in ships comprising in combination aframing, a ring-shaped seating thereon, a hand-operated sash closableagainst said seating, tightening means adapted to hold said sash hardagainst said seating, guides in said framing, a slidable shutter in saidguides,

and mechanical means operative upon said shutter.

6. Means for closing port openings in ships comprising in combination aframing, a ring-shaped seating thereon, erated sash closable againstsaid seating, guides in said framing, packing strips in said guides, aslidable shutter in said guides and adapted to contact with said strips,and mechanical means operative upon said shutter.

7 Means for closing a plurality of side openings in ships, comprising incombination, seatings, hand-operated closures closable against saidseatings, guides fitted ada hand-opjacent said openings, slidableshutters in said guides movable at all times whether said closures areopen or closed, power-operated means operative upon said shutters, and acontrol tor said power-operated means.

8. Means tor closing a plurality ot side openings in ships, saidopenings being iitted with respective hand-operated closures, said meanscomprising guides fitted adjacent said openings, slidable shutters insaid guides,

power operated mechanism, a transmission gear between said mechanism andsaid shutter, a maximum transmission device in said gear, and a mastercontrol tor said poweroperated mechanism.

9. Means tor closing a plurality ot side openings in ships, saidopenings being itted with respective hand-operated closures, said meanscomprising guides fitted adjacent said openings, slidable shutters insaid guides, power operated mechanism, a transmission gear between saidmechanism and said shutter, a slip coupling in said gear, and a controltor said power-operated mechanism.

10. Means tor closing a plurality ot side openings in ships, saidopenings being fitted with respective hand-operated closures, said meanscomprising guides fitted adjacent said openings, slidable shutters insaid guides, toothed racks on said shutters, power operated mechanism,transmission gears operated by said mechanism and meshing with saidrack, slip couplings in said gears, and a control tor saidpower-operated mechanism.

11. Means tor closing a plurality ot side openings in ships, saidopenings being titted with respective hand-'operalted -closures, saidmeans comprising guides titted 4adjacent said openings, slidableshutters in said guides, hand operated means operative upon respectiveshutters, poweroperated mechanism, transmission gear between saidmechanism and the several shutters, a slip coupling in said gear, and acontrol tor said mechanism.

12. Means tor closing side openings in ships, comprising in combination,tramings at said openings, hand operated closures on the inner side otrespective trainings, guides arranged in said trainings between saidclosures and the exterior ot said tramings, shutters slidable in saidguides, power-operated mechanism operative upon the several shuttersthrough the medium ot slip couplings, said slip couplings, and a controltor said power-operated mechanism.A

13. Means tor closing side openings in ships, comprising in combination,trainings at said openings, hand operated closures on the inner sides otsaid tramings, guides titted on the outer side ot said tramings,shutters slidable in said guides, racks on respective shutters, toothedwheels meshing with said racks, shatting connecting said toothed wheels,a driving rack operative upon said shatting, power means operative todrive said rack, and a hand gear adapted to be operatively connectedwith or disconnected trom said shatting.

14. Means tor closing side openings in ships, comprising in combination,tramings at respective openings, hand operated closures tor saidopenings, guides on said tramings, shutters slidable in said guides,power means, transmission gear connecting said power means with saidshutters, said gear comprising a reciprocatable rack, a screw threadedrod connected with said rack, a toothed nut on said rod, a hand driventoothed wheel adapted to mesh with the teeth on said nut, and meansadapted to hold, at will, said nut in mesh with said toothed wheel.

15. Means tor closing` a side opening in 16. Means tor closing a. sideopening in a ship, comprising a framing composed ot inner and outerparts surrounding said opening, a seating on the inner traming part, asash on said traming closable against said seating, an extension on eachtraining part forming complementary parts ot a casing, guides in saidcasing parts, a shutter slidable in said guides, mechanism in saidcasing and operative upon said shutter, and driving connections tor saidmechanism extending to.

the exterior ot said casing substantially as described.

17. Means tor closing a side opening in a ship, comprising a tramingdivided in a plane parallel with the plane ot said opening andsurrounding said opening, a seating on the inner training part, a sashon said traming closable against said seating, an exten sion on eachtraining part forming complementary parts ot a casing, said casing andtrame parts being moreover tormed with corresponding groovesconstituting complementary parts ot guides, a shutter slidable in saidguides, mechanism in said casing and operative upon said shutter, anddriving means tor said mechanism extending to the exterior ot saidcasing.

1S. Means tor closing a side opening in a ship, comprising a trainingsurrounding said opening and composed ot inner and outer parts, aseating on the inner training part surrounding said opening, a sash onsaid training closable against said seating, an extension on eachtraining part, forming complementary parts ot a casing, guides in saidcasing and frame parts, a shutter slidable-in said guides, a rack onsaid shutter, a toothed wheel mounted in said casing and meshing withsaid rack, driving connections yfor said wheel at the exterior of saidcasing,

and a hand gear operative upon said shutter from the exterior ofVV saidcasing.

' 19. Means for closing side openings in ships, comprising incombination, framings at said Openings, hand operated closures for ruponsaid shafting, hydraulic power means operative to drive said rack, ahand gear adapted to be operatively connected with or disconnected fromsaid shafting, a short circuiting valve, and Vpipe connections betweenvsaid valve and said hydraulic power means.

v2O. Meansfor closing side openings in ships comprising in combination,ramings at said openings, hand operated closures adapted to seat againstsaid framings, guides in said -ramings, slidable shutters in saidguides, hand gear operative upon individual shutters, power gearoperative upon the several shutters, hand-operated means adapted tocut-out said power gear, hand gear adapted to be made operative upon theseveral shutters when said power gear is cut out, and slip couplingsbetween said power gear and said shutters.

Q1. Means for closing side openings in ships comprising in combination,framings at said openings, hand operated closures v adapted to seatagainst said framings, guides on said framings, slidable shutters insaid guides, hand gear operative upon individual shutters, hydraulicpower mechanism, transmission gear comprising slip couplings laetweensaid mechanism and said shutters, short circuiting valvular meansadapted to neutralize said hydraulic .mechanis1n, and hand gear adaptedto be made operative kupon said transmission gear when said mechanism isneutralized.

ENRICO BENVENUTI. Witnesses HOWARD H. HALL, QUINCY F. ROBERTS.

Copies 'of this patent may 'be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

